Archive for the 'Bobby Wilson' Tag Under 'Angels' Category

Catcher Bobby Wilson was claimed on waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays today, a transaction that may clear the way for Hank Conger to win the job as the backup to Chris Iannetta.

Wilson, 29, is a career .208 hitter in parts of five seasons with the Angels. He is arbitration-eligible this winter, so he would have been due a significant raise from the $487,500 he earned in 2012.

Iannetta, Conger and 29-year-old journeyman John Hester are the only catchers on the Angels' 40-man roster. Conger, 24, has been considered one of the Angels' top prospects. He was thought to be on his way to becoming the Angels' everyday catcher before the Angels acquired Iannetta, who they signed to a three-year deal earlier this month.

Conger has hit .201 in 79 big league games. He's a career .297 hitter in the minors, including parts of three consecutive seasons at Triple-A Salt Lake City.

The Angels also announced that outfielder Jeremy Moore had cleared waivers and was outrighted to Salt Lake City. Moore, 25, missed the 2012 season because of hip surgery. He's a career .277 hitter in the minors.

Zack Greinke doesn't know too many players in his new clubhouse, won't be able to get around Orange County without a map and, before Saturday, hadn't met any of the starters in the Angels' rotation that his acquisition has strengthened.

But the former 2009 All-Star and AL Cy Young winner who was acquired on Friday from Milwaukee in a trade for shortstop Jean Segura and minor league pitchers Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena, knows this:

“The team is really good,…” Greinke, 28, told reporters in a news conference at Angel Stadium on Saturday. “This is an organization just about everyone in baseball would want to be apart of.”

The right-hander Greinke (9-3, 3.44 ERA) will start Sunday in the series finale against Tampa Bay. Left-handed reliever Hisanori Takahashi was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Greinke.

Greinke has a mid-90s, four-seam fastball that Angels starter Dan Haren calls “electric.” His fastball, slider and two curves are the “stuff that light up scouts' eyes,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

The San Francisco Giants on Monday return to Angel Stadium for the first time since Oct. 27, 2002, which was the Angels' 4-1 victory in Game 7 of the World Series.

Manager Mike Scioscia and first base coach Alfredo Griffin are the only Angels holdovers from that championship season.

“It was a great series but there's a lot of mileage from 2002 to now,” Scioscia said before Monday night's interleague series opener. “I don't know if there are many comparisons you can draw. Different uniforms, different team, different everything.”

Sitting nearby in the Angels dugout, former Angels All-Star slugger Garret Anderson, who is working as a Fox Sports broadcaster, chimed in: “I don't think there is one (similarity between the teams then and now.)”

Jered Weaver threw 60 pitches in four innings of a simulated game at the Big A on Friday and will pitch a bullpen session Sunday before trainers and coaching staff will determine when he can come off the disabled list.

Weaver has been out since May 28, when he suffered a debilitating back strain while pitching in the first inning against the Yankees.

After his session Friday, Weaver said it "felt great," and that he was able to throw all his pitches. "Just treated it like a normal start, for the most part."

Manager Mike Scioscia added that Weaver threw with a normal delivery, and that his pitches had their normal velocity. "Everything looked great. He looked really sharp."

The Angels made it official before Saturday's game, activating veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins from the DL. He had been out since May 6 with a fractured finger on his pitching hand.

He returns to a much different bullpen. The acquisition of Ernesto Frieri has allowed the bullpen to stabilize with the trio of Frieri, Scott Downs and Jordan Walden (albeit to a lesser extent) carrying the load.

"What are you talking about? Ernie was here before I got hurt," Hawkins said slyly, aware that Frieri made his Angels debut the day before Hawkins was lost to injury.

Hawkins had a 1.08 ERA and one save in 10 appearances for the Angels before the finger injury. He fingers to pitch in the sixth and seventh innings now and in less of the setup role he was slotted into at the start of the season.

After Bobby Wilson suffered a mild concussion during Monday's game, the Angels were in need of a catcher and reached out to Triple-A Salt Lake, promoting Hank Conger when Wilson was placed on the 7-day DL today.

But they could have an excess of catchers soon.

Chris Iannetta took live batting practice today for the first time since surgery on his right wrist May 11. Iannetta has begun aggressive workouts to get his throwing arm back in shape and he could be ready to start a minor-league injury-rehabilitation assignment in the next week with a return to the Angels' lineup possibly less than two weeks away.

Iannetta said he has felt no pain in the wrist since increasing his workouts and swinging a bat. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Iannetta was still in "the infant stages" of getting ready to return with no "exact date" set yet for him to start a rehab assignment.

Angels catcher Chris Iannetta and Angels television broadcaster Victor Rojas spent an hour at Patrick Henry Elementary in Anaheim, speaking with students and signing autographs as part of the Angels Baseball Foundation's Adopt-A-School program.

Iannetta, who is still recovering from right wrist surgery to repair the fractured when he was hit by a pitch on May 2, told a group of 150 students about the importance of education and hard work in any walk of life. Iannetta was a three-year starter at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied mathematics.

(More about Iannetta's visit later on the blog…)

Each year since 2008-2009 school year, the Angels Baseball Foundation, the club's charitable arm, has teamed with the Orange County Department of Education to select five high schools and five elementary schools to “adopt,” based on need.

Angels catcher Bobby Wilson left Monday's game in the second inning after taking a foul ball off the mask.

According to Angels manager Mike Scioscia, Wilson felt "a little woozy and with his history there, they (the training staff) is going to be very cautious."

Wilson suffered a concussion and post-concussion syndromes after a home-plate collision with Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in April 2010. Wilson also injured his ankle on the play which came in his first major-league start. He spent just over three weeks on the DL after that injury.

With Wilson's availability in question, the Angels have just one catcher (John Hester) on their active roster and might reach down to Triple-A Salt Lake for help.

Hank Conger returned to action late last week after missing over a month with an elbow injury. He has played four games since returning, three at catcher and one at DH, and went 5 for 18. For the season, he is batting .338 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 17 games.